Table of contents for No. 219 in AUTO & DESIGN

The Turin motor show is back and, as in the good old days, the leading players are coach-builders. In the avenues of Parco Valentino, close to that Coachbuilders’ Pavilion that for decades was a veritable Mecca for anyone interested in design, the little that remains of past glory embraced emerging or little known designers to bring a creative ferment reminiscent of the ‘Sixties back to Turin. The coachbuilders’ concepts on display came under the scrutiny of a huge crowd – more than 650,000 visitors in four days. There were famous coachbuilders who have written whole chapters of the history of the motor car such as Pininfarina and Italdesign, modelling specialists like Cecomp, custom-built specialists like Alfredo Stola’s Studio Torino, a return (I.DE.A Institute) as well as young companies looking to…

Fittingly, the first example built was named “Mercedes”. It’s the beginning of a new chapter – “a revolution” say aficionados of nautical design, because the “Silver Arrow of the seas” (the official name of the Arrow460-Granturismo) marks the entrance of Mercedes-Benz design in the luxury motor yacht world. “We have transferred our expertise to the marine industry - explains Daimler Vice President Design Gorden Wagener - creating, in the process, something drastically different from anything else ever seen on water. We have applied our brand’s concepts of automotive design to a yacht: a progressive, dynamic design philosophy which, in our cars, expresses a sensual purity that is the key to modern luxury, in a combination of emotion and intelligence”. The Arrow460-Granturismo is built in a Swiss boatyard near Lausanne by…

"We have a fantastic history, but we believe that we have a fantastic future, too.” This was how Adrian van Hooydonk presented the two new “Homage” concepts at Villa d’Este. These were dedicated to two great BMW classics with four and two wheels respectively: the 2002 sports coupé from 1968, and the iconic R5 motorcycle dating from 1936. In the year of its centennial, BMW chose to bring the entire collection of its celebratory concepts to the shores of Lake Como, together with examples of the original models they cite. Including the two new concepts unveiled this year (in the photo at the beginning of this article), eight prototypes were put on show: the Mini ACV 30 (1997), the Concept Coupé Mille Miglia (2006), the BMW M1 Hommage (2008), the…

SUVs are enjoying extraordinary success in China. But where will evolution have taken this trend in three or four years’ time? In answer to this question, and with a willingness to challenge concepts and methods that are, too often, considered set in stone, Lowie Vermeersch of Granstudio – the design house he founded in Turin in 2011 – and his design team embarked on a joint project with Baic Motor. The result of this is the Senova OffSpace concept unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show. The project had a twofold mission: “It’s a study for both an identity for the Senova brand and for a new type of car. This is very different from simply tailoring a style for a package assigned by the client, as used to happen even…

When the first style meetings are held to define a new creation bearing the Prancing Horse badge, the focus is usually concentrated on performance-related content, such as the mechanical layout, aerodynamic requisites and dimensions of the package. “This time around, we had to start from a fundamental conceptual question” explains Ferrari design chief Flavio Manzoni. “Specifically, we discussed if it was a good idea to keep the shooting brake body style for the successor to the FF.” This very question reveals the conundrum posed by the model: a car far removed from a classic berlinetta, deliberately different from other four-seater coupés and, above all, nothing like any offering from the overexploited crossover genre, Ferrari’s outsider is a fascinating but rather controversial concept. “A solution to all of these questions came…

It’s the smallest of Audi’s SUVs. Developed on the MQB platform (the same platform also underpinning – among many other Volkswagen group models – the A3), the Q2 measures just 4.19 metres in length, 1.79 in width and 1.51 in height. These compact dimensions are the result of intense efforts by the designers and contribute in no small measure to giving meaning back to the ‘S’ in ‘SUV’, which stands for Sport. “It’s a new kind of car” explains Audi design director Marc Lichte. “The lower part is typically SUV, while the cabin is that of a coupé. And this is also reflected in the interior, developed under the guidance of Enzo Rothfuss: the driver position is raised, as it should be in an SUV, but it is also sporty…

There is a story behind every car. In the case of the new generation Suzuki Baleno we are dealing with an important development: in business, strategic and mindset terms. With constant feedback between Japan and Italy. This “segment B” model (which carries the same name as the previous model produced from 1995 to 2007 and sold in Europe until 2001) was conceived, designed and technically developed in Japan. Its externals, however, were designed in Italy at the Robassomero Style Centre (close to Turin) headed by Tetsuya Ozasa. This growing centre was set up in 2009: the structure is expanding and over the course of one year the number of designers has increased from six to nine and is set to increase still further. All this within the context of the…

Creating a multi-brand design for a LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle) requires a different approach. It must be functional and longer lasting than a usual 8-year product cycle as applied to passenger cars. Groupe PSA tackled this task for its medium LCV range, in a joint venture with Toyota on a special application of the PSA EMP2 platform. Apart from the basic commercial models - Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy and Toyota Proace – the French brands each have co-developed more or less luxurious passenger car versions as well, named Traveller and Spacetourer. Internally known as K-Zero, the project started late 2011, with Toyota stepping in in July 2012. Citroën was given the task of coordinating the overall design execution, with a new approach. “Customers do not want the sort of standard…

The design teams of Aston Martin for the DB11, Mazda for the RX-Vision Concept and Volvo Cars for its product range design are the winners of the Car Design Award 2016. The award ceremony took place in Turin on 8 June as part of the Parco Valentino Turin Motor Show. “We are delighted to host the return of this prize that resonates worldwide but whose roots are here in Turin”, said Andrea Levy, President of the Show’s Organising Committee. The trophies were designed and produced for the occasion by Brembo, a partner in the event. “The history of our relationship with design actually dates as far back as the origins of the company” says Roberto Vavassori, Business Development and Marketing Director of Brembo during the prize-giving ceremony. An exceptional endorsement…

Driverless electric carriages, bus stops that move along city streets, self-propelled benches that are available where and when they are needed: there will be many, surprisingly different ways of moving around in the city of the future. We find out about them through the intriguing projects of MMKM, the Granstudio research unit that focuses on urban mobility. It is animated by an interdisciplinary team in which young designers work alongside architects and town planners. "A common thread runs through our designs: every object is part of a specific context. In the past there was the car, and this fitted into multiple contexts. Now it is no longer enough, increasingly context specific visions are needed”, explains Lowie Vermeersch of Granstudio. “The approach”, he continues, “has always been to design objects and…

Magna Steyr Design, based in the cultural Austrian city of Graz, stands for creativity, diversity, and competence. Known for the spirited nature of its 8 unique MILA showcars, the team has also undertaken the development of two OEM showcars, along with a number of production cars, tractors and commercial vehicles. Some of the recently launched cars were created for new Asian brands. For the Qoros 3 and for the Brilliance Huasong 7, Magna worked as development and design partner. In these cases, brand identities needed to be developed from scratch. Additionally, a major commercial vehicle styling project has just been finalised: a complete family of trucks. The modular construction created interesting challenges, as one design had to be adapted for three different cabin sizes. Concept designs of motorcycles and three-wheelers…

Only 22 per cent of the activities of Altran Design Centre, which embraces land, sea, air and space, involve the world of cars. But the services provided represent something new. “We don’t just provide the result, but how to get there”, explains Maurizio Ficcadenti, “Senior solution manager” for automotive, infrastructures and transport. The Design Centre forms the hub for a collection of activities that have never before been so closely integrated. Let’s start with Styling where CAS modelling rules. “In a virtual context of interaction with digital mathematical models”, Ficcadenti explains, “this obtains navigation flows within an environment, for example user interface testing in a cabin that does not yet exist, long before there is an actual physical model and prototype”. It is a process of three-dimensional immersivity and interactivity…

As every bike enthusiast knows, the Ducati Monster has been one of the most iconic motorcycles of all time since the day it was launched. This iconic status was the premise for three thesis projects developed for the 2014-2015 Master’s Course in Transportation and Car design held by the Milan Design Polytechnic. This is a programme organised in collaboration with the Volkswagen Group, and which has also included the involvement of the Audi and Lamborghini brands. The project with Ducati, conducted in close contact with the Borgo Panigale design centre, asked the students to reinterpret the legendary Monster in a futuristic key, to offer a fresh, forward-looking perspective for the evolution of the visual language of the model. In giving shape to their ideas – presented as full scale models…